Torrential rain has caused flash flooding and blocked roads and rain lines in swaths of the UK, causing widespread travel disruption and raising fears for a missing pensioner.

The Environment Agency had 65 flood warnings in place, meaning that flooding is expected and residents should take immediate action.

While most were centred on the south-west of England on Monday, householders in the Midlands, north-east, north-west, Wales and the east of England have all been told to be on guard. A further 212 flood alerts, meaning flooding is possible, are active.

The misery also continues for passengers and crew on board a ferry that could not dock in south-west Wales on Monday because of the choppy conditions and was forced to remain out on a storm-lashed sea overnight.

Rail services in the south-west and northern England were badly hit by the aftermath of Storm Angus at the weekend and Monday’s torrential rain.

The line between Tiverton Parkway and Exeter St Davids in Devon was severely damaged. The Barnstaple and Looe branch lines in Devon and Cornwall were also closed.

On Tuesday morning Network Rail said no mainline trains from or to London would be able to arrive at or depart from Exeter for an estimated 48 hours because part of the tracks had been swept away at Cowley Bridge in the city. Network Rail said it expected trains from Paddington would be able to get as far as Tiverton in Devon.

At Cowley Bridge in Exeter the ballast was washed away from the tracks, leaving rails dangling in the air. Some electronic points equipment was also damaged.

The line was also flooded between Bristol Parkway and Swindon in Wiltshire. Services to and from Bristol Parkway and south Wales were subject to diversion and alterations. Speed restrictions were in place between Bristol Temple Meads and Weston-super-Mare.

In the north of England, homes and businesses were left submerged in water after a month’s worth of rainfall fell in just one night in greater Manchester. Tameside and Oldham were some of the worst hit areas with three inches of rain falling overnight.

Greater Manchester’s fire service had 230 calls between 4pm and 9pm on Monday during the peak of the torrential rainfall. Some homeowners had to be rescued after dozens of homes in Stalybridge were flooded – with water reportedly “neck-deep”.Rescue crews used ladders to remove trapped first and second floors of their homes.In another case on Huddersfield Road in the town’s Millbrook area, rescuers were seen using a boat to help remove people trapped within their homes.

The Met Office’s yellow warning for Greater Manchester remained in force until 6am on Tuesday - although a clean-up operation will then begin in earnest across the region.

Meanwhile, in West Yorkshire fire crews were called to four incidents of people being trapped in cars which were stuck in flood water and one person had to be rescued from their vehicle in Otley.

Metrolink was forced to suspend all services on its East Didsbury line after a tree fell on the tracks and a slipway on the M60 at Cheadle was also blocked by another collapsed tree.

Rail services from Manchester to Sheffield, Leeds and Scotland were disrupted by problems including a fallen power line at Oxenholme Lake District.

A woman who was rescued from the sea at Folkestone is thought to be in a life threatening condition, Kent police said.

Folkestone and Dungeness coastguard, Dover lifeboat and a helicopter were scrambled at 6.54am after reports that a woman was in the water off the harbour area.

A Kent police spokesman said: “South East Coast Ambulance Service went to the scene and a woman has been taken to a local hospital. Early reports suggest she is in a life threatening condition.”

In the Irish Sea, passengers and crew on a Stena Europe ferry were forced to stay on board after the vessel failed to dock in Fishguard harbour, Wales, at 12.30pm on Monday after sailing from Rosslare, Ireland, at 9am. A Stena Line spokeswoman said on Monday night: “The health and safety of passengers and crew is of paramount importance to Stena Line, therefore the 87 passengers and 59 crew members will remain on board overnight until a second attempt at docking takes place at midday tomorrow.”

The Met Office said the wettest place in the UK on Monday was Dunkeswell aerodrome in east Devon, where 50mm of rain fell in 24 hours. In the 48 hours up to 3pm on Monday, 96mm fell on Exeter airport. Only 136mm falls on Devon in the whole of a typical November.

Wind warnings issued by the Met Office were still in place into Tuesday morning after gusts of up to 70mph recorded on the Isle of Wight.

Squally weather is due to persist throughout Tuesday, with gusts of about 50mph expected to continue over higher ground and coastal areas in the south-east, forecaster Greg Dewhurst said. “We have seen the area of low pressure that brought heavy rain to the south and west moving into southern Scotland and the north-east overnight,” he said. “Throughout today the wet and windy weather within that low pressure area will slowly move into the North Sea.

“Behind this most places will still see showers, some heavy but getting lighter during the day. Away from the low pressure we should see some sunshine around Northern Ireland and western Scotland.”

Devon and Cornwall police attended more than 60 road collisions during the day on Monday. Fourteen schools in Devon were forced to close.

Greater Manchester fire and rescue service said between 4pm and 9pm operators dealt with about 230 calls. Firefighters rescued a man from his car after it became stuck in flood water in Oldham and escorted another man to safety after his van became stuck in the floods in Ashton-under-Lyne, Tameside.

The GMFRS was also called to flooded homes in Stalybridge. Crews gave advice to people who became trapped inside their homes on Huddersfield Road in the town and made electrics safe in flooded properties on Honeysuckle Drive.

In south Wales, fading light and treacherous conditions forced police to suspend the search for a pensioner who vanished on Sunday morning. The search for Russell Sherwood, 69, from Neath, will resume on Tuesday.

North Yorkshire fire and rescue service said on Monday firefighters attended 22 incidents involving flooded properties in Craven, Harrogate, Hambleton and the east of the county. They rescued eight people from cars stuck in flood water.

In west Yorkshire, police said standing water was causing problems on the M62 motorway. Roads in other parts of the county were blocked by several feet of flood water.

Conditions were due to improve into Wednesday as the unsettled conditions pass, with colder nights expected under clearer skies. Temperatures of 5C (32F) are predicted in the Scottish Highlands, while many could wake up to frost on Wednesday.